Deceptive Design: How slot machines keep players in the dark
Details
Monday, September 23, 2019
Talk starts at 6:30 PM SHARP
Join TAD for a free evening of behavioural discussion — and refreshments! — with special guest Prof. Mike Dixon. He’ll share fascinating research from his lab on how slot machines exploit cognitive blind-spots, and their possible mental health impacts.
Slots have evolved far beyond mechanical “one-armed bandits,” becoming complex digital games. They now account for over 60% of gambling revenue in places like Las Vegas, thanks to decades of design refinements aimed at keeping players engaged and spending. The result can be powerfully addictive: in Ontario alone, problem gamblers lose about $1.8 billion on slots each year.
Prof. Dixon co-directs U of Waterloo’s Gambling Research Group, whose creative experiments have helped uncover the psychological forces behind this play. He’ll explain how design elements like sounds and flashing lights can convince players they’re winning, even as they lose. And we’ll hear how such disguised losses connect with depression, compulsion and “dark flow” states, when players forget everything but the game.
As digital gambling gets more accessible, and games more generally have increasing influence, such research can only get more relevant for design professionals — as well as the public using their products.
So join us at our next meetup: unlike slots, it’s a safe bet!
5:30-6:30 PM Putting on nametags, drinking beverages
6:30-7:15 Prof. Dixon presents
7:15-8:30 Questions, discussions, more beverages